Shade and fixture therefor.



E. B. SMITH.

SHADE AND FIXTURE THEREFOR. APPLICATION map SEPT. x 1. x914.

Patented Jan. 16, 1917 l4 6 Q U WITNESSES: Z, fl pEN ToR: 2 I z UNKZTEE T @FFEQE.

EZRA B. SIVHTH, 0:5 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO 11*. B. IDGDGE COFIPANY, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TUBE TEEBEFOR.

Application filed September To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EZRA B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, -esiding at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Shades and Fixtures Therefor, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that type of shade whose length is adapted to be varied by folding the shade and which may be bodily raised and lowered to vary the amount of light admitted above the top and it has for its objects to improve the construction and arrangement of the shade and its fixtures so as to permit the shade to be folded more easily and more evenly. than has heretofore been possible; to permit the folding to take place from either end; and to make the operation of adjusting the shade noiseless.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter he pointed out with particularity in the claims; but for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a window provided with a shade and shade fixture arranged in accordance with one form of my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1 through the shade and the top and bottom of the window frame, showing the shade extended; Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2, showing the shade completely folded; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of tne pulley fixture modified, however, to permit it to be sup ported from above instead of from the rear thereof as in Figs. 1 to 3; Fig. 5 is a central section taken through the fixture of Fig. 4 at right angles to the axes of the two pulleys; and Fig. 6 is a section taken axially through one of the pulleys and the adjacent portion of the supporting frame.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, 1 represents a window frame and 2 a shade of a width suflicient to overlap both of the side members of the frame. At the top of the shade, across the middle thereof and at Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1917.

11, 1914. Serial No. 861,150.

the bottom are transverse shade sticks, 3, l and 5. Midway between the sticks 4: and 5 1s a fourth stick, 6. On the front face of the upper member of the window frameis secured a fixture, 7, provided with. two stop pulleys, 8 and 9, arranged to revolve about axes parallel with the plane of the shade, and one lying close to the window frame while the other is located a considerable distance away from the frame. A cord or cable, 10, passes over the pulley 8 and is secured at its free end to an eye, 11, located midway between the ends of the upper shade stick 3. A second cord or cable, 12, passes over the outer pulley, 9, down the front of the shade through an eye, 13, fixed to the stick a: midway between the ends thereof and attached at its lower end to an eye, 14. While I have described the members 10 and 12 as being separate from each other, they may be connected together at their free ends as indicated in the drawing. The shade is creased as indicated at 15 midway between the sticks 3 and 4.

The shade as a whole may be raised and lowered by simply drawing on the cord or cable 10 so as to bring it to the center of its pulley where it is permitted to run freely thereby permitting the shade to be raised or lowered to any desired extent and be held by simply allowing the cord or cable to be locked at one end of the pulley. During this bodily shifting of the shade, the cord or cable 12 must also be brought to the freerunning point on its pulley. If desired, the cord or cable 12 may be left in a locked condition and the top of the shade be lowered to any desired extent without moving the bottom portion which is held supported by the cord or cable 12. By allowing the cord or cable 10 to remain locked in its pulley, the cord or cable 12 may be employed to adjust the shade from the fully extended condition indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 to the fully folded condition indicated in Fig. 3 or to any intermediate condition; the first operation, upon pulling down on the cord or cable 12 being to cause the shade to fold between the sticks l and 6, the lower quarter of the shade hanging down as a simple flap. When the stick 6 overtakes the stick a, both travel upwardly together and the upper half of the shade begins to become slack and to fold down on the rear side of the rising portion until finally the upper half of the shade is I folded neatly at the crease with its two memwearing out of the shade if it be made of a stiff material or rumpling and gathering in bunches instead of folding up nicely if made of the soft material usually employed in shades of this type,-all by reason of the fact that the two stop pulleys are spaced apart, one in front of the other, thus producmg a tendency to cause the ends of the two cables which are attached to the shade and the corresponding points on the shades to he in separated planes, one 1n advance of the other.

A further preventive of noise consists in a special mounting for the stop pulleys best illustrated in Figs. at, 5 and 6. Each of the pulleys is provided with an axial bore considerably larger in diameter than the supporting shaft or axle, 17, thus permitting the latter to be surrounded by an anti-frietion bushing. Furthermore, in order to prevent noise due to the rubbing of the ends of the pulleys against the adjacent flanges, 18, of the supporting bracket, I place anti-frietion washers between the ends of the pulleys and the flanges The washers and the bushings are preferably combined by making each bushing in two pieces, 19, each half as long as the corresponding pulley and provided at one end with a Wide flange, 20, the flanges serving as anti-friction washers lying between the ends of the pulleys and the adjacent supporting ears on the bracket.

hen the shade is an outside shade, that is one overlapping the side members-of the window frame as indicated in Fig. 1, the fixture 7 is provided at one end with a ver tical ear, 21., for fastening it to the front face of the window frame; but, for an inside shade, that is one which hangs between the side members of the window frame, the pulley fixture is attached to the under side of the upper member of the window frame and is therefore provided with perforated ears, 22, as indicated in Fig. 4, lying in a plane parallel with that containing the the locationof the attaching ears, the fixtures are the same for an outside shade as for an inside shade.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, 1 do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but intend to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the terms employed in the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a shade provided with transverse sticks at the top, at the bottom and midway between the top and the bottom, and with a'fourth transverse stick midway between the two lower sticks, the shade being creased transversely midway between the two upper sticks, two cords passing over stationary guides above the shade, one of the cords being attachedto the upper stick and the other cord being attached to the second stick from the bottom of the shade, and an eye fixed to the stick at the middle of the shade and loosely surrounding the latter cord, said guides being spaced apart in the direction at right angles to the plane of the shade,;the cord which passes through the eye on the stick at the middle of the shade having no connection with the upper half of the shade.

2. In combination, a shade, two pulleys mounted above the shade ona fixed sup port with their axes spaced apart and lying parallel with the plane of the shade, a cord passing over one of the pulleys and fixed to the top of the shade, a second cord passing over the other pulley and fixed to the shade at a point near the lower end thereof, an eye fixed to the shade about midway between the top and bottom thereof and loosely surrounding said second cord, the said second cord being entirely free from the upper half of the shade.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

EZRA B. SMITH.

*vVitnesses M. F. FREUDENPEIGH, RUTH F. ZETTERVALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. 6- 

